Certain driver factors such as speeding, inattention, fatigue, and unfamiliarity with roads accounts for majority of all vehicular crashes. Driver error is ten times more likely to be the cause of truck-related accidents as compared to other factors such as poor road conditions, weather, and mechanical malfunctions. As a means to reduce truck-related accidents, greater attention needs to be focused on developing systems for monitoring at-risk driver behavior in motor vehicle fleets to improve driver safety. Fleet operators incur losses as a result of excess fuel and maintenance costs, as well as losses due to inefficient management of individual vehicles in the fleet as well as groups of fleet vehicles such as those located in a specific geographic area.
Modern vehicles use a number of communication systems and/or networks, which could be utilized to collect driver and vehicular data. Each of these communication systems and/or networks may have a bus structure that is open or proprietary. Each of these buses may also be specifically designed to work in a vehicle or may be available as a general communication protocol. For example, the high-speed CAN bus carries information that is vital for vehicle operation or safety and is delivered to various parts of the vehicle or system in substantially real time.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved driver monitoring system that collects vehicular and driver data to improve driving behaviors.